


But Who Do You Go Home With When The Evening Ends...?

by JustinTime4u



Category: Superstore (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-05 02:32:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14034237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustinTime4u/pseuds/JustinTime4u
Summary: Jonah doesn't want to hurt Kelly, but he knows that after Amy admits in front of the whole store that she has feelings for him,  he needs to do what's right, even if it isn't easy.Jonah isn't expecting the situation that leads to him being forced to quickly make a choice between the two, and forces him to draw his line in the sand by going with his gut and following his heart.(Author note: I may add more to the story but I just had an inspiration and decided to write this stand alone fic.  I met may add a few more chapters depending on whether or not anyone enjoys this or maybe it only made sense to me.I apologize that I'm exhausted and don't have time to proofread it better so if anyone would like the job of proofreading and touching it up I would be happy to give you credit for any changes you could make. thank you.)





	But Who Do You Go Home With When The Evening Ends...?

Jonah collects his belongings from his locker and looks around to see if he's got anything lurking in there that he should probably take home. Kelly is waiting for him in the hall. He pulls open the small bag of all-natural, organic low carb energy bars that he keeps in the back of his locker in case he gets hungry and he doesn't want to waste calories and carbs on pizza or french fries at the store cafe that day. They don't need are refill yet, he's still got four. 

(He'd never admit it to anyone, but he's been watching his weight.) He glances down, eying his waistline....ever critical just because he's always cared too much. Hes always cared too much about his looks and though he hated to admit it, he'd sort of let himself go in the weeks after the hurricane. He really wanted to get that last 6 pounds off that he hasn't yet lost. Living in a FEMA trailer had really left him eating nothing but frozen foods and fast food, and in a depressed state about losing all his belongings he hadn't been very active at all. He had binged on crap foods and not excercised while he watched endless episodes of every show he loved in the last 10 years on the old tablet he'd gotten from the stores lost and found raffle (it was in his car, his only real possession to survive the storm.).

Of the things he had lost, his favorite razor had been among them... It had taken him almost 6 weeks to make the agonizing decision of which new straight razor to get- and so he'd grown as much as a scruffy shadow and a thin mustache as he was capable of. 

He smiled to himself, remembering how Amy had given him that look when she'd first seen him after the hurricane, thirteen pounds heavier and with a scruffy mustache and beard. He had thought she showed for just a moment, a mixture of happiness and nerves but also something more. Something about the way she looked at him that day actually made him think that she found him attractive like that. 

Amy had smiled to him in the past, but this time it had really felt like she'd smiled AT him....because of him. He was positive that she had flashed her bright smile -the one that broke though the nerves surrounding the fact that they had barely spoken since thier "I'm not going out without kissing you first...." kiss. (Another thing he'd never admit to).

Anyway, he thought maybe she gave him that look because of his scruffy and depressed post-hurricane look, and so secretly, that was part of the reason it had taken so long to settle on the new razor. If Amy liked him scruffy...he could stand to be a little scruffy. But... I will keep eating this crap (he eyes the gross protein bars) - even tho they taste like cardboard, if it helps me get back in shape... Just....in case. I don't mind being a little scruffy but Jonah drew the line at being heavier than he wanted to be. 

A voice shook him from his thought. Kelly had walked into the break room and said something to Carol. She was waiting for him. He had agreed to look at towels after work and to discuss if he thought they should getting a king size bed when he moved in with her. They were going to go to her apartment to look at the space and see what he thought about the bed situation.

Her voice had startled him- It wasn't Amy's, unfortunately. It was... Kelly. He inwardly groaned. 

Kelly had been pretty damn mad after at him after that meeting earlier. They meeting where everyone talked about how much he loooooved Amy and how they were clearly soulmates. He had seen just then, the angry and jealous side of Kelly for just a flash, before she had annoyingly slid back into a fake perky mood pretending as if she wasn't mad, even though she was. Kelly had that blank stare as the entire store had rehashed and discussed at length... The. Kiss. And what it meant. Even though Jonah and Amy themselves had never had that talk. (They should have, he lamented). 

Jonah had been completely stunned just hours earlier by Amy's brave confession. 

Jonah had felt that it has always been known to everyone exactly how he felt about Amy. It was common knowledge that he had followed her around like a puppy and that even though hed dated other girls to distract him.. There was only one he really wanted and cared about. No matter that he had never admitted to it, it was a well known fact that the entire store was WELL aware of EXACTLY how he felt about Amy. 

From Garrett, who was the first to warn him on his very first day that Amy was already taken (married, and with a kid, even...) To Marcus, who had tried to call "dibs" on Amy once and had faced Jonahs wrath... To that damn pharmacist. 

At that thought, Jonah couldn't help but shudder. Tate. That fucking tool, Tate. He shook his head as if to shrug off the memory of Amy with him. Naked with him. Her body against his. (Jonah squirmed, and despite hating the thought of it, he couldn't help the thought of Amy, naked, even Amy fucking Tate.... Just the idea of Amy was making him somewhat hard.) He shifted, glanced around the room and tried to stand in a way that minimized his erection. As much as he liked to think about Amy naked... It also turned his stomach and made him angry. The thought of HIS AMY with TATE...It made his stomach tighten and turn. He shook his head again, harder this time, and tried to block it from his mind.

I mean, could he REALLY blame her? Shes young and hot and single and sexy... (he cringes, catching himself thinking it, remembering THAT awkward conversation). As little as he'd really physically *been* with Kelly in thier time together, he HAD been with her sexually. He tried to pretend it didn't count. They were, after all, dating and he couldn't put the physical parts off forever without someone starting rumors about his possibly not being straight. (What Jonah had done in the years he was in college was none of anyone's business at Cloud9. Amy was the only person in this world (in the St Louis area) as far as he knew, that had any clue that he'd dated two guys back then. She hadnt even flinched when he'd told her. If anything, she had looked intrigued, like she had questions she was ultimately too shy to ask. 

Anyway, he couldn't be mad at Amy for sleeping with that tool. (He was pretty good looking, maybe even a 10 when you considered his income potential.) He had been having sex and so they were even, he felt. After all, his had been unfulfilling, totally boring, so-bad-he'd-faked-an-orgasm-two-out-of-three-times with Kelly, but it had happened a few times. He guessed it was only fair because she had needs too. He hopes they used a condom. Secretly, he hoped she hadn't enjoyed it. He hoped she hadn't kissed him, or looked in his eyes. He wanted to be the one doing those things... his mind drifted, his body twitched at the thought of her again. 

How could he be annoyed at her - twice in recent weeks he had (unfairly, maybe) allowed Kelly to go down on him. He felt guilty that he let it happen and that goes body responded. Somehow having the woman he was dating going down on him made him feel like he was cheating on the girl he SHOULD be with. He couldn't bring himself to find the enthusiasm to reciprocate, even through the guilt. Remembering it, he's positive he had closed his eyes and that he remembered hoping that the next time he looked down, it would be at a head of brown hair, and not blonde. He was dissatisfied and disappointed in the end because that wasn't the case and he hadnt really been able to enjoy it knowing that this girl liked him so much more than he could even muster to pretend to like her. 

He didn't know why he had scrambled and sputtered and spit out the words- the words that told Kelly that he wanted to move to the next step and then he'd agreed to move in with her... Usually an annoyingly perky morning person who believes in angels and who gives lazy, uninteresting head (and a woman who he can't seem to give more than 30% of his attention to, even when they are in the middle of sex...) .. Normally that wouldn't typically be the type of relationship he would be scrambling to take to another level.... To ask to move in together with.

BUT, despite it not being ideal, or what he actually wanted...it IS what he had said to Kelly when she had passive aggressively come at him with that really kicked-puppy look after the meeting where he had just learned Amy liked him back. He had excuses. He'd been blindsided. He was still lost in thought... And he didn't like hurting anyone.

His mind was still reeling when Kelly had approached him. He didn't want to be her boyfriend, he didn't want to date her and he didn't feel about her how she felt about him... But even so, Jonah is a nice guy. (A genuine one though, not one of those guys who CLAIMS to be a 'nice guy' but really isn't.) So when Kelly gave him that look like a wounded Panda, it was all he could help to do. Out popped this nonsense about how he wanted to move forward with her, and sure, hey, while my foot is in my mouth already- let's move in together. (He was so damn stupid. Wtf had he done?!) He just didn't want to hurt her... But he IMMEDIATELY realized after she walked away what a HUGE mistake it was. He couldn't take it back without crushing her.

 

Jonah stood by his locker, waiting on Kelly while he reflected on the conversation he'd just had with Amy....  
The moment he had seen Amy, after that awkward meeting (just after hed asked Kelly if they should move in together)- it was a pang of guilt that rang out in him. Even so, and still timid from her earlier admission, she sputtered over her words first. 

"So, uh... Yeah. That was... Those guys are..." She trailed off.

"Yeah." Jonah looked at his sneakers. He said the first thing he could to assuage the guilt her felt. "So uh... I'm moving in with Kelly." The admission sounded like he felt guilty about it. Like he was confessing, rather than telling a friend his news.

Amy looked stunned and didn't say anything for a moment. She tried to study how he looked. He didn't look happy which confused her... Why then...? She spoke; "Oh. Uh... Congrats...?"she finally managed. It sounded more like a question that she meant for it to. 

He decided that if he didn't change the subject, Amy might rush away. He hated when she avoided him like that. He tried to think of something else... Something not related to Kelly and his stupid choices... And quick. 

They stood there in silence for several moments longer before he spoke again. 

"So uh... Did you hear Cheyanne said that Harmonica is finally sleeping through the night? I don't know how she's made it this long with a kid not letting her get more than a couple hours of sleep, ever. That had to be hell."

Amy nodded, agreeing. "Its really hard to have a baby and not be sleeping and to be working alot." She was grateful to switch topics and ignore the revelations that had come about. She could suffer small talk. She didn't want to hear about Kelly and she didn't want him to say again that she's missed her chance and that Jonah was committed to Kelly. She didn't want to hear anything about Kelly. 

In her mind...Amy didn't know it, but she agreed with Jonah about one thing-that the entire store had always known Jonah liked Amy. But... had she really screwed up by telling the entire store that she had a crush on him right back? No one seemed to have known, least of all Jonah. Her admission to her feelings looked like it had shaken Jonah and yet still, he was still with her... With Kelly. So Amy wasn't going to be snarky about it... She didn't feel it was her place. It wasn't like he was going to find out she liked him and then he was going to dump Kelly in front of everyone and admit to loving her.

No. She could dream. Hope. Wish it would be the case, even, but she knew it wasn't realistic. And Kelly did looked like a kicked puppy that whole meeting. (Secretly it made Amy feel a LITTLE better that it seemed like Jonah had forgotten Kellys name when she had admitting she liked him). But Amy could understand, especially knowing Jonah, that he wouldnt just go from dating his boring pageant-queen blonde, the perky, dim, but always annoyingly kind (and nieve) skinny little blonde and just dump her in front of everyone. He wasn't like that. 

And even thought she definitely wanted Jonah and Kelly to break up, she didn't want him to change who he was. She just secretly had hoped that he would break up with Kelly the first moment he got her alone after finding out that Amy actually liked him. She hoped he'd do it politely and discreetly and as Jonah-like as possible, and that the next time she saw Kelly,Kelly was already over the breakup and back to being fake-nice to her. Then they could get together and everything would just be fine...

Anyway, Amy and Jonah were both standing there in the hall for another moment. 

"So...you must be excited to be moving in with Kelly? I mean, that's big news. You must really love her." Amy winced when she said the L-word. She knew she sounded bitchy and mad and that Jonah noticed. She tried to take it back...."I mean... It sounds like you're happy. And that's... That's great."

Jonah studied her face. He wished she would just come out and say it. He said nothing aloud but his brain spun a million words a minute: "Amy please. Ask me not to. Tell me not to go find Kelly to discuss towels and beds. Tell me that you want me to break up with her. Tell me *you* still like me, Amy. Admit that you want to be with me instead of her. Tell me you're ready to date. Tell me it's okay to like you. I'll pick you. Just ask me and I'll end it with her right now. I'll pick you."

Amy studied his expression right back. He looked decidedly sad. It didn't look like the expression of someone sharing happy news with a friend. She lilted her head a little. "Jesus, Jonah. Just say something. Tell me you don't want to be with Kelly anymore. Tell me i didn't miss my chance. Tell me you never got over me. That maybe we ARE soul mates. That maybe you DO love me. That it's definitely not lust... Even if i do... Even if you do..." Amy's frown mirrored Jonah's. 

"Whats wrong?" He had asked.

"You first," She had countered. He hadn't realized his unhappiness, like everything he had always shared with Amy, was painted on his face and that as usual, she read him like a book. Amy got really quiet then. "Are you sure you want to move in with Kelly?"

Jonah looked at the floor. He finally spoke the truth.... "No."

Neither of them could see Kelly, who, looking hurt and angry, was standing in the doorway about to exit the bathroom on just the otherside of the door from where Amy and Jonah had stopped to have this awkward conversation. She heard the exchange. She knew then that she and Jonah would break up that day. He didn't know yet, hell he would probably be really grateful if she just opened the door then even if she stormed out there and let him have it... She knew, sadly, that he would probably just be relieved. 

She said something else that sounded really half assed before quickly excusing herself to go get Emma... It wasn't the truth, but it sounded like a valid excuse. Amy had bolted to the parking lot where she sat in her car, alone and crying quietly in frustration. 

Jonah, bewildered and unaware that he wasn't fooling anyone anymore and that Kelly was all set to end things with him... Jonah begrudgingly headed off to find her, thinking he'd suffer through the discussion about the apartment before he went home (to his own place for as long as he had left of his own space -even if that space WAS in Garret's spare bedroom). He planned later, to drink enough to forget the day when he got home. 

When he had found her, Kelly said she didn't feel like looking at pillows and the way she said "Maybe another time" instead of "But definitely tomorrow!" In an annoyingly chipper tone...it should have clued Jonah in, but he was too sad and guilty to notice it. 

She asked if they could go to her place instead. She had a few of his things, not much, but if she broke it off at her place, she knew she could kill two birds with one stone, erasing what was left of this boyfriend, if you could even call Jonah that, because it was clear now that she was simply buying time until Amy and Jonah admitting to loving each other. She couldn't help but be stung. She really had thought he liked her at one point...

Jonah had agreed and went to get things from his locker, while Kelly stopped to talk to another employee for a moment. She said she'd wait there for him. 

So just now, Jonah has realized how long he's been standing at his locker thinking mostly about Amy. He only realized he's been frozen there awhile, because Kelly stuck her head into the break room and shook him from his thoughts by calling his name. Her voice wasn't the one he wanted to hear. 

Kelly watched Jonah walk towards her, shaking off a thought and she realized he was probably thinking about Amy even now. She knew she didn't make him light up the way Amy's voice did. She had tried to ignore it, but no matter how much she had liked him, Jonah loved Amy and that was really finally clear. He was never meant to be Kelly's, and she tried to comfort herself that she couldn't have known until today. She led him out to her car and they both got in together wordlessly. 

Jonah thought he was resigned to the beginning of the rest of a decently long relationship with Kelly and to plan they're moving in together but Kelly knew they were heading to her house where she would break up with Jonah and ultimately send him home with a small pile of his belongings in a cloud 9 tote bag.

Because she was distracted by thoughts of what was to come, Kelly wasn't watching the parking lot behind her as she whipped her car backwards from her spot. She was a mix of angry and sad and jealous and frustrated. 

Unfortunately, the timing was bad. Any had been sitting in the parking lot trying to calm down and collect yourself before heading home for the day but she had only succeeded in sitting there listening to the radio and crying. She was trying to think of anything but her eyes stinging when, Amy had seen in her rear view, Jonah coming out of Cloud 9 with Kelly and she gathered herself quickly, shuffled the few things around her car and wiped her face before starting her car up to get out of there. 

The problem was, that she too, backed up quickly and without looking. 

The crunch that followed that unfortunate timing was deafening.

Jonah had his seatbelt on, he felt the hard crunch of metal but wasnt tossed forward very far because of the seatbelt. Kelly however, hadn't put hers on yet. Jonah looked over and saw that the airbag had gone off. Kelly was stunned, silent, but didn't look hurt. Just dazed. 

In her in car, Amy was also belted. She banged her head, however, near the top of the door frame. Her arm too. She felt a sharp pain and something dripped on her hand. She looked down and realized it was blood, but wasn't sure where the blood was coming from. Somewhere on her face or head she guessed, not wanting to reach up and actually touch what hurt.

Quickly, Jonah realized that they had hit something but that he didn't know what. He jumped out of Kelly's car and couldn't have been more shocked to see Amy's car directly behind Kelly's rear bumper. He looked back in at Kelly.

An ambulance had been parked across the lot, the occupants, two off duty EMT's had been eating samswhiches from the Cloud9 cafe and they were already driving across the lot toward them now. Jonah told Kelly as much. He asked if she was okay and she said yes. Without admitting he knew who it was he told her he was going to go check on the other driver.

By the time Kelly looked in the rearview and saw whose car was behind hers, Jonah was at Amy's window. 

Kelly was mad but Jonah wasn't there to see it. Mad that she was dumping a guy she liked, mad that he liked someone else, and now mad about her car. 

That quickly ambulance arrived from across the parking lot and one EMT walked over to Kelly while the other reached Amy's car the same time Jonah did.

Jonah was shocked when he look through the passenger window and realized the Amy had blood on her face. The paramedic remained professional & calm and collected as he opened her car door and unbuckled Amy seatbelt, quietly checking on her face. Jonah stood at the passenger window, concerned, but not speaking as he watched the EMT check Amy over for her injuries. He wanted to be helpful but wasn't sure what to do so he scrambled to open her glove box to remove the napkins he knew she kept there, she did after all have a child, and he tried to offer them to the paramedic to stop Amy's bleeding. 

The paramedic was far more prepared than Jonah though and reached into his bag for sterile gauze instead. He applied pressure to Amy's forehead. He told her that it looked like she was going to need a few stitches and Amy set back against the driver seat of her car suddenly feeling dizzy and sweaty and a bit nauseous.

The paramedics all Jonah standing there looking completely pathetic and said, "Hey buddy can you reach through the window there and turn her air conditioner up? She looks really flushed - can you turn the fan way up?" Jonah was just grateful there was something that he could do instead of just standing there feeling useless.

He cranked up the air conditioner and put his hand on her shoulder to let her know that he was there. Amy turned her head slightly and saw Jonah standing outside her passenger window. Even though just moments earlier she was sweaty and feeling like she could pass out at any moment, she somehow tried to pull herself together because the last thing she wanted to do was throw up or blackout was Jonah standing right there. He had already held her hair back once and she didn't want to repeat that embarrassment.

"Open it. Sit down..."she said weakly. The paramedic was wrapping her forehead and telling her that she would need to go to the hospital for a scan & she really needed to get a couple stitches put in that gash. She patted the seat and Jonah knew to open the door. 

As he sat down, Amy told the paramedic that she didn't want to pay a small fortune to take the ambulance to the emergency room and that she would just have someone drive her later but the paramedic was checking her pupils with a flashlight and he immediately cut her off, before she could argue.

"You definitely seem to have a concussion and we need to get you over to the emergency room. I have to stop the bleeding for now but that's going to definitely need stitches so I'm going to go grab the stretcher and you're going to come with us, okay?" Amy looked helplessly over at Jonah. 

Without hesitation, Jonah offered to ride with her in the ambulance to convince her to go and get seen but a doctor.

First a look of grateful relief crept across her face and she smiled a tiny smile, with gratitude for Jonah's company but quickly it was followed by a look of confusion. She realized, suddenly remembered, that she had seen Jonah get into Kelly's car right before she had scrambled to get herself together, and then she stopped watching as she gathered herself and then backed out to leave... Wait... 

"Oh god." Amy said out loud. "I backed into Kelly's car didn't I?" Amy asked, horrified at the realization. 

Jonah glanced in Amy's rear view mirror and sees Kelly, rapidly talking to both the other paramedic and the cop that is now on scene. She looks annoyed but she looks uninjured...( "I mean...clearly I have a reason to be sitting here with Amy... Instead of out there with Kelly," he reasoned with himself.

"I mean to be fair -its more like Kelly backed into you..." Jonah said trying to make her feel better. "I mean it, come on, I'll ride in the ambulance with you, it'll be fine," Jonah said, "Let's go."

Amy was starting to realize that her forehead was throbbing and she was feeling dizzy again and so she quietly submitted and told the paramedic she would go. He opened the car door farther and helped her climb onto the stretcher and by the time he wheeled it to the back of the ambulance to load it in, Jonah was climbing in to the back of the rig to sit beside her and ride with her. 

He realized he hadn't even said a word to Kelly. He was about to tell Amy he'd be right back- that he was going to let Kelly know that they were going to the ER- but before he could complete his thought, Kelly was standing by the back door of the ambulance with the other paramedic, looking in at Jonah and Amy looking very much like a couple.

"Hey Brian," the one paramedic called to the one who had been helping Amy, "Listen, this other driver thought she was alright but it's starting to look like she might have some whiplash, so I want her to get checked out. The cop already called for another bus, so we can go ahead and take your patient and the other driver will wait here with the cop. Its mostly just precautionary- the other ambulance will be along in just a minute for her." Thier driver started up the ambulance. 

Before Jonah could really say anything to Kelly or apologize for leaving her to go to Amy, the first paramedic closed the back door of the ambulance behind himself and they were pulling away with a very aggravated looking Kelly left standing beside the cop in the parking lot. Jonah turned his attention back to Amy who was lying back against the gurney. She was quiet and not saying anything. He wasn't sure if she was unconscious or just trying to focus on something besides her throbbing head but either way he put his hand over hers and give it a little squeeze and she responded by releasing her fingers with his.

As soon as the ambulance turned from the Cloud 9 parking lot and the angry shiloutte of Kelly was no longer in view out the back window of the ambulance, she was out of Jonah's mind. They rode to the hospital without a word, holding hands. 

They say that what really matters is who you know you're going to end up with when the evening is done. Jonah knew he was where he belonged. He had a feeling he and Kelly were totally done. As much as Amy would probably be happy to hear it, Jonah just gave her hand a little squeeze...

Amy squeezed his hand back, but she never opened her eyes. She was hoping this meant that Jonah had made his decision.


End file.
